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For the cupcakes:
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Preheat oven to 350u00b0F. Prepare cupcake tins by placing a cupcake liner or cupcake baking cup in each well and lightly spraying the insides with cooking spray.
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Peel and the grate the carrots. I use a food processor with a grating blade to make it faster.
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In the large bowl of a mixer, mix dry ingredients: sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt and baking soda. Mix in oil and eggs until fully incorporated. Add carrots and mix. Place an even amount of the batter in each cupcake liner.
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Bake for 20 to 25 minutes (in my oven, they took 22 minutes). Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes, then take them out to cool and decorate.
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When the cake is completely cooled, they are ready to frost.
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For the cream cheese icing:
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Let cream cheese and butter sit out for about 1 hour so they soften and come to room temperature.
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In the bowl of a mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and milk. Mix on medium high speed until icing is smooth and fluffy. Then pipe a round swirl of icing on each cupcake using a large star tip or spread 2 tablespoons on each cupcake with a butter knife. If you want, you can decorate the tops with candied carrot curls.
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Fot the candied carrot curls:
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Preheat oven to 200u00b0F.
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To make the carrot peel curls, take a vegetable peeler and peel 15 to 20 lengthwise carrot strips or ribbons. Bring 1 cup sugar and water to a boil in a small sauce pan. Add carrots and turn the heat down to medium low and cook for 15 minutes. Remove peels from pan with a slotted spoon.
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Lay carrot ribbons flat on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet or jelly roll pan. Bake for 25 minutes. The carrots will begin to look translucent and be firm enough to hold a shape.
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While carrots are still warm, work quickly to curl carrot ribbons around a wooden spoon handle. You can adjust how tight you want the curls. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Use to garnish frosted cupcakes.
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Note: If you want to watch how to make these carrot curls, click on related blog link to see a short video that gives you a step-by-step guide.
